French Farmers Protest Surge in Moroccan Tomato Imports Amid Growing Trade Tensions

The war against the Moroccan tomato is intensifying in France. This is evidenced by the BFMTV article titled "+40% imports in 5 years: Moroccan tomatoes in the sights of French producers". "For months now, the tomato and more specifically the one from Morocco has been in the sights of French producers. In June, already shock operations were organized in some large-scale retail stores. In Arles in the Bouches-du-Rhône, local producers had burst into an E. Leclerc to stick "Origin Morocco" labels on cherry tomato trays sold for 95 cents," writes the author of the article, stressing that "the attraction of distribution" for the Moroccan tomato "obviously does not date back to the post-Covid inflationary surge".

He will specify: "relatively stable between 2011 and 2017 at 300,000 tons per year, imports of Moroccan tomatoes have soared since according to Customs figures. They reached more than 425,000 tons in 2022, an increase of 40% in just five years." Morocco has become the third largest exporter of tomatoes in the world. The Hexagon is by far its main customer with 51% of the production sold abroad. The United Kingdom (19%) and the Netherlands (11%) follow. Tough competition for the Spanish tomato, which has been declining for 10 years, but above all for the French tomato.

Consequence: the country of Emmanuel Macron is the third largest importer of tomatoes in the world, behind the United States and Germany. "In total, it is estimated that 36% of the annual volumes of fresh tomatoes consumed in France are imported, mainly in winter but increasingly all year round due to the development of a Moroccan, Belgian and Dutch offer competing with the French seasonal production," the authors of a Senate report warned in 2022.

Tomato